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The Chevrolet Spark offers a stereo upgrade that acts like an extension of a user's smart phone to stream music, navigation and other apps. Notice how few buttons there are, since the system relies on the smart phone's technology to work. (Credit: Matthew de Paula)

By 2016 most cars will have smartphone integration, according to a new report from Juniper Research, a wireless technology research firm based in Hampshire, U.K. Aftermarket systems offered by companies like OnStar will help grow the sector to $14.4 billion in four years and give 92 million vehicles Internet connectivity.

This technology will not only allow satellite-based navigation and streaming music from the Web, for example, but it will also open up a whole new market to telematics services currently only offered through automaker-specific subscription plans like GM’s OnStar and BMW Assist. These sophisticated satellite-linked systems can automatically dispatch emergency services to the scene of an accident, help law enforcement agencies locate stolen vehicles, and even disable them in some cases.

Parts suppliers and consumer electronics companies are working together to create a standardized protocol called MirrorLink, being overseen by the Car Connectivity Consorutium, which was established in February 2011 expressly for this purpose. Currently, each automaker has its own proprietary protocol for in-vehicle electronics, making it impossible for electronics companies to produce a single smartphone pairing device that would work with all vehicles.

The U.S. is ahead of other geographical areas in developing telematics technology for vehicles, Juniper says. Ford has lead the way with its Microsoft-based Sync system, one of the first to integrate advanced smartphone functionality like voice recognition in non-luxury vehicles. Another American company, General Motors, already offers an aftermarket telematics system, called OnStar For My Vehicle or FMV, that brings its navigation, traffic, safety and other services to non-GM vehicles.

GM’s next step with smartphone connectivity is to make it available on its least expensive models through an optional stereo system that relies entirely on a smartphone for its advanced functionality, rather than building all that into the system itself, which is how it’s usually done. So, for example, the Chevrolet Spark, a budget-priced microcar coming out this summer, will offer a stereo upgrade with a large touchscreen that basically acts like an extension of the user’s paired smartphone. This means that when a user wants to stream music through Pandora, the system simply acts like a conduit and relays what the phone is doing, rather than actually processing the data stream itself.

A Chevy rep said it took lots of software development with the help of LG to make the system compatible with every smartphone available, but the end result is that consumers who typically couldn’t afford to have such features in their car, now can.